When I was in my early teens (many years ago!) my mother, sister & I had one at our house. My then ballet teacher was very "into" this sort of thing so she showed us how to set it up & called forth the spirits.

So there we were at night, lights out & candles lit,hushed & eerie atmosphere, sitting around our timber dining table. We'd cut out paper with letters of the alphabet written on them & placed them in a circle on the table with a "yes" & "no" at either end & a kitchen glass upturned in the middle of the table. Christine asked for the spirits to come & we all placed one finger on the upended glass.

At first we got an entity that wasn't very cooperative but after trying for a bit longer we got one that Christine recognised, that had come through to her on previous occasions. This was a young boy who had died in a fire in England in the 1800's. So initially we were learning a bit about who he was whilst thinking that it was really Christine moving the glass herself to spell out the responses. However things quickly progressed & became a whole lot more scary.

My mother asked it a question about something in the future & the glass moved with all of our fingers on it & spelt out NO FUTURE. Well my mother kept trying to ask something about the future. Each time the glass moved with our fingers on it more & more jerkily to spell out NO FUTURE. By this time it was starting to dawn on us that this was really happening & that it wasn't a trick Christine was playing on us.

Even now I can still remember the feel of the jerk & pull of the glass as it moved across the table, you could sense the energy there. Anyway my mother asked one more question about the future & the glass went ballistic. It just shot all over the table in every direction, moving so quickly that none of us were able to keep a finger on it. We all just sat there in stunned silence watching this glass flying across the table all by itself. Needless to say we quickly turned on all the lights & decided that was the end of the seance & I've never participated in another one since.

Now I have sometimes wondered if over the years my memory has altered the facts somewhat & I actually imagined the glass spinning out of control by itself. Last night however, I actually asked my father what my mother had told him about it (my mother is now dead), & he confirmed that that is what she told him.

When I was in elementary school, a boy I kinda liked told me about seances. It was the first I ever heard of them. So we decided to summon up the spirit of either Abraham Lincoln or John Wilkes Booth. I can't remember which one it was right now.

We actually did this in broad daylight in the class room. I don't remember where the teacher was or why we happened to have this free time available to do this.

Anyway, what I do clearly remember to this day is the theatre box that I saw. I remember the dark curtains around it and the seats. I was getting flashes of views and items. One of the flashes I had was of an old-fashioned dagger with a curved blade. This made no sense to either of us as we both knew Abe was shot.

Many years later I read or saw a documentary that stated that John Wilkes Booth also carried a dagger that night.

One of the more interesting things Iíve discovered while doing the intuitive readings and connecting with the deceased is that there appears to be different states or levels of dead-ness (is there a real word for this?). In other words, I always thought that when you died you went into the light and you were greeted by angels or deceased relatives and off you went to the heavenly all-you-can-eat-never-get-fat buffet. But apparently this is not the full and complete story. Iíd like to share with you what Iíve learned about the varying states of crossing over in case it helps you one day when you cross over.Choosing not to cross overFirst there are the spirits that choose not to cross over at all. These are the spirits who cling to this plane, ignoring the call of the light, or perhaps they donít see the light at all. These are often people who have done something so negative in their lives that they fear judgment, so do not cross into the light because they think they are going straight to Hell. If you thought you were headed for eternal damnation would you be in a hurry to get there? I thought not. These are often the spirits who come through on ouija boards and are not to be trusted. They feed off of your energy to cling to this plane. Never invite them to parties.Canít see the lightSometimes a person dies so suddenly or unexpectedly that they simply donít realize they are dead. They donít see the light because they are totally focused on figuring out what happened to them. Many movies have been made about ghosts like these, such as Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. Eventually they figure it out. Either their own funeral finally drives the point home, or a friendly angel or spirit comes and gets them. Still, if you find yourself waking up in a morgue you might question whether youíre dead and look for the light. It might save you some time. Canít face the lightNext there are spirits who commit suicide and cannot forgive themselves. I encountered a spirit who had committed suicide and she was still very much attached to her previous life. The shame and guilt she felt made her feel unworthy of going into the light. Her guides and higher self could not reach her, but there was an angel with her who was trying to counsel her past her grief, shame, and guilt so that she could receive the loving energy of Source. She was very much in a state of limbo. She was totally protected by this angel, but she was not ready to slough off her mortal coil. She was locked into her actions. Oh, reminds me of the movie The Others with Nicole KidmanÖ a spirit who did not realize she was dead because the reality of what she had done to her children was so overwhelming that she just couldnít accept it. I felt very sad for this woman but I saw that the angels were working with her to help her cross over. A reading with the same client a few months later showed me that they had made significant progress with the deceased spirit. They were taking her back to a happier time in her life to lift her vibration so they could get through to her more easily. Note that not all suicides suffer this condition. Many suicides release easily and go into the loving light and are completely whole again.HoveringThe next group I encounter are those spirits that are hovering. These spirits know they are dead and are planning to cross over wholly but are still very attached to their loved ones here on Earth. They cannot go on completely because the grief of the people theyíve left behind holds their energy here, like a tether. Or sometimes itís a husband waiting for his wife to pass so they can cross over together. Or a grandmother waiting to see her grandchild safely born. Often this is someone who has too much left unsaid or undone and they canít go on until they get the message to their loved one. This is a job for a medium. Getting important messages to loved ones frees the spirit to move on, like the tv show Ghost Whisperer. This is the kind of spirit that I pick up on most often. They are usually recently deceased or there were many tangled, loose ends in their life that they really want to tie up before they cross over.The full cross overThe final type of spirits I encounter are those who have crossed over completely and are on the other side. Itís harder for me to reach their energy because I have to vibrate very high to get to them and they have to come down a little in their vibration to reach me. When Iím channeling one of these spirits they are less attached to their old earthly identity, but are still able to give me information that is helpful to their loved ones. There is much less emotional attachment here though. They are still accessible, for sure, but they are less urgent about it. Theyíve gone on, as it were, and are working on their own development (thatís right, ďPersonal Development for Dead PeopleĒ, you heard it here first!)
So far these types of spirits are the only ones Iíve encountered. There could be other states I havenít picked up on yet. But I thought it was an interesting tidbit to discover as Iíve been glimpsing whatís going on behind the light. We're discussing this article in the Erin Pavlina forum. Please join us.